Fire, Water, Earth and Air
by The Warts of the Hog
Summary: Four Clans. Four cats. One destiny. Emberkit, haunted by the mother who hates him. Pebblekit, born in the shadow of those who were lost. Stormkit, viewed as a traitor for his mother's mistakes. Blossomkit, who brings them all together, and saves them from themselves.
1. Introduction

**FireClan**

FireClan cats are incredibly passionate and always have new and exciting ideas. They go with their gut instict, often without putting much thought behind it, so can appear self-righteous and uncaring. They are extremely ambitious, sometimes overly so, and when they don't get what they want they can become irritable, and even violent. Because of this, they are excellent in battle, but are sometimes let down due to their lack of strategy. Living on a rather desolate mountainside, FireClan cats hunt large birds and snakes, so are built mainly for jumping.

**Leader: **Smokestar

**Deputy: **Stonetail

**Medicine cat:** Warmfeather**Apprentice: **Scarletpaw

**Warriors:** Blazepelt **Apprentices: **Ashpaw

Thistleclaw Rockpaw

Crowstorm Strikepaw

Shardpelt

Caveheart

**Queens:** Blackspirit **Kits: **Burnkit, Flamekit

Nightwhisker Shadowkit

Darkcloud Emberkit, Ravenkit

**Elders: **Clawfoot

Sootpelt

**WaterClan**

WaterClan cats are known to be compassionate, trusting, and overly generous. They are also adaptable, and sometimes plan too far ahead. Their dreamy nature makes the other Clans see them as weak and largely undignified. Some cats of WaterClan are more secretive, dark and brooding, like the depths of a pond, which contrasts the free and open character of others, and often causes conflicts within the Clan. They generally try to avoid fighting, as they see it as immoral, and aren't particularly good at it.

**Leader: **Silverstar

**Deputy: **Echofur

**Medicine cat:** Sandstream**Apprentice: **Reedpaw

**Warriors:** Redwater **Apprentices: **Splashpaw

Otterheart Volepaw

Wetwhisker Mudpaw

Foamtail

Pondpetal

**Queens:** Bubblepelt **Kits: **Riverkit, Flowkit

Clovernose Pebblekit, Floodkit

**Elders: **Deepheart

Spiritsong

**EarthClan **

EarthClan cats are methodical and rational, and they have achievable goals so are never let down. They also accept the course of life, and do not try to change what seems inevitable. Because of this, they can appear rather pessimistic, as they tend to expect the worst. They have an excellent sense of unity, and of loyalty to their Clan and leader, meaning they are good at both fighting and hunting. Their inclination to follow their leader without question helps them in battle, as well as their unwillingness to take risks.

**Leader: **Leafstar

**Deputy: **Sunstripe

**Medicine cat:** Rosetail**Apprentice: **Fernpaw

**Warriors:** Elmwhisker **Apprentices: **Rootpaw

Yewheart Lilypaw

Oakstorm Hazelpaw

Petaltail

Vinecloud

Dapplewind

**Queens:** Mossfeather **Kits: **Nettlekit, Honeykit

Flowerfall Blossomkit, Daisykit, Hollykit

**Elders: **Poppywhisker

Thornfoot

**AirClan**

AirClan cats are incredibly intelligent, and because of all the ideas that are constantly coming to them, they easily forget the task at hand. Their intelligence means their minds become bored when not stimulated, which can lead to reckless behaviour. They also have certain suspicious and untrusting qualities, as they tend to overanalyse overs. They are successful in both hunting and fighting, due to many days of meticulous planning, and lots of tested strategies. They are always prepared for the next event.

**Leader: **Sharpstar

**Deputy: **Rainclaw

**Medicine cat:** Windwhisker**Apprentice: **Pinepaw

**Warriors:** Hailheart **Apprentices: **Whisperpaw

Frostwing Eaglepaw

Coldnose

Silentcloud

Fogpelt

Breezetail

**Queens:** Mistpelt **Kits: **Icekit, Stripykit, Sleetkit

Goldenwind Stormkit

**Elders: **Skyfur

Snowfall


	2. Chapter 1 Emberkit

'Hello Darkcloud,' Emberkit murmured timidly, 'Guess what Ravenlaw and I found yesterday!'

Darkcloud hissed in response. 'How many times do I have to tell you, Emberkit? I don't care!'

Emberkit visibly winced, and glanced at Nightwhisker, who gave him a sympathetic look before pointedly turning away to face her kit. Emberkit tried again, and padded slowly towards Darkcloud, stopping about a mouse-length away and tipping his head to one side wondering what she would do next, yet hoping that she wouldn't do exactly what she did.

'Just go away, Emberkit!' Darkcloud growled, her brown eyes glinting with malice. Emberkit scrambled backwards, eager to get away from the spiteful black she-cat, not caring when a sharp rock dug into his paw. Once he was out of the den, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief, his heart still pounding from the short encounter. Looking down the steep cliff face, he caught sight of his brother and quickly but carefully, he headed down the narrow path to the camp centre.

'Ravenkit!' He called out happily, and his brother responded with equal excitement.

'Hey Emberkit, I've invented a a fun new game!'

Ravenkit glanced at his brother suspiciously. 'As long as it's better than the last one you made up, I'm in.'

'Don't worry, you boring little furball. This one is great. It's called hunt the beetle and basically...'

'Wait,' Emberkit interrupted, 'Don't we need to find a beetle first?'

'No, you beetle brain. It's an imaginary beetle!' Ravenkit exclaimed, his thick black tail swishing with enthusiasm.

Emberkit snorted, earning him a slap in the face from Ravenkit's tail. 'Don't be horrible! It's a really fun game!'

'How can chasing a beetle that doesn't even exist be fun?' Emberkit muttered sceptically.

'You just need to imagine there is a beetle, you furball!' Ravenkit practically yelled, causing many of their Clan mates to turn around and glare at them for disturbing their morning.

'Well I think it's a rubbish game.' Emberkit moaned, 'And you're stupid for saying it was fun.'

'You're just so boring, Emberkit.' His brother growled.

'And you're just so stupid! No wonder she hates you.' Without waiting for a response, Emberkit stormed off. When he was halfway across the clearing, he heard something that he had been dreading hearing since the day he was born.

'She hates both of us.' He turned suddenly, catching a glimpse of his brother walking away.

'That's not true.' Emberkit muttered, more to himself than anyone. 'It's not, it can't be.' He continued muttering to himself, paying not attention to where his paws were taking him.

He bumped into something firm yet soft, and instinctively backed away.

'Hello there, Emberkit,' a authoritative voice called out, and Emberkit suddenly looked up, before bowing his head down.

'Sorry,' he mewed quietly, 'I wasn't looking where I was going.'

'So I see,' the cat meowed humorously, 'a lot on your mind?'

'No!' He exclaimed, causing the large grey tom to look at him sceptically. 'No.' He repeated, much calmer, 'No, everything's fine, everything's great.'

'Come with me, Emberkit,' he ordered, not looking at all convinced. Emberkit merely nodded his head meekly and followed him into the Leader's den.

Once they were both seated comfortably in the bed of bracken and ferns, Smokestar looked expectantly at Emberkit, who replied with a guilty expression and looked away.

'Just tell me what the problem is. I can tell there is one, I'm not stupid.'

Emberkit sighed. 'It's nothing really. It's just that she hates us.'

'Who's she? Who's us? I need a bigger explanation than that, Emberkit.'

After gulping, and screwing his eyes shut for a few seconds, he nodded slowly. 'Okay. It's Darkcloud. She hates me. And she hates Ravenkit.'

Smokestar's ears twitched angrily. 'I see. Why couldn't you tell me this earlier? I presume you've felt this way for a while?'

Emberkit shrunk backwards into the wall of the den, not having seen this side of the usually calm and composed leader before.

'I guess I didn't... I don't trust you.' He finally managed to say, his voice quivering.

Smokestar's eyes widened a little at that, and his tail began to thump against the cold floor of the den.

'How, Emberkit?' He growled, his voice lowering and his eyes narrowing menacingly, 'How could you not trust me? How could you not trust your own father?'

Emberkit licked his lips nervously. He glanced at Smokestar, and noticed that his face, despite displaying no obvious emotion, was let down by the fact that his eyes were flashing with pain and guilt.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' Emberkit mewed desperately. 'I don't trust you because I don't trust my mother. I trusted her and now she hates me and Ravenkit.' His voice dropped to a low and vulnerable murmur. 'I don't want you to hate us too.'

Having said this aloud, he suddenly felt very exposed, and he fell to the floor in a trembling heap.

'I could never, ever hate you, Emberkit. I am so, so sorry.'

His father's tail passed affectionately over his flank, and then he stormed out of the den without looking back.

**Thanks so much to DemonStar and Destinyheart for reviewing, it really motivated me to get this chapter out as quickly as possible, so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. I'll check over it a bit later. Please check out my other current story, a Harry Potter fanfiction, The New ****Generation, which I've also just started. **

**I'm sure you all hear this a lot but if you liked it, please review, and if you didn't, also please review! For a beginner, any criticism is constructive. **

**Thanks a lot for reading, and I'll try and get another chapter out in the next few days.**


	3. Chapter 2 Pebblekit

'Clovernose?' Floodkit mewed, padding towards his sister and mother, 'What did Spiritsong mean? She said it was all my fault.'

Clovernose immediately stopped washing the top of Pebblekit's head, and turned to gaze questioningly at the elder, who was lying smugly on the sun warmed rocks.

'She was just probably a bit confused,' Clovernose muttered half heartedly, 'She's getting a bit old now, you know.'

Despite Floodkit accepting this response and bounding off energetically, Pebblekit could tell her mother was concealing something.

'But Clovernose,' She murmured, 'Surely she must have been talking about something! Maybe Floodkit put a caterpillar in her nest when he was changing her moss, and now she has an itchy back. Then it would be all Floodkit's fault, you see?'

Clovernose sighed, and turned away from Pebblekit. 'Perhaps. Yes, perhaps that's what she meant.'

This wasn't enough confirmation for Pebblekit, who leapt up and ran around to face her mother. 'But is that what she meant? Maybe you should ask her, because Floodkit could have done something really terrible, and no one would know, and that wouldn't be good at all.'

'Everyone knows already, Pebblekit!' She hissed, before shaking her head rapidly, 'Sorry, perhaps I will ask her, just to make sure.' She then gave her daughter a smile, which she knew looked forced, but she was unable to do any better. 'Go back to the den with Floodkit, and I'll sort it out, okay?'

Pebblekit obediently wandered over to the hollowed out tree trunk, and flopped down on the sandy ground outside it. 'What do you think Spiritsong meant, Floodkit?' She asked him, slightly confused about the whole thing.

'Clovernose told us already!' He mewed slowly, as though he was leader and she was a stupid little kit. 'Spiritsong's just a bit confused at the moment. Honestly, don't you listen at all?'

Pebblekit was shocked at her brother's naivety, but merely nodded, and began to think about how she could find out what was going on.

A little while later, Clovernose returned to the den, where she was greeted enthusiastically by Pebblekit, who immediately asked what Spiritsong meant. She lay down in the hollowed out bed of sand and ferns, and nodded slowly.

'I was right, she was just a bit confused.' She explained carefully, 'With her age, it's hardly surprising.'

Pebblekit didn't believe her one bit, but nodded anyway so as not to arouse suspicion. She decided to go and ask Spiritsong herself about it the next day, while her mother was on patrol.

As soon as she awoke the next morning, Pebblekit's heart was beating quickly due to fear and excitement. This was the first time she was every going to do something behind her mother and brother's back. Her mother was still asleep, curled up in a tight ball, her flank rising and falling in perfect rhythm.

Pebblekit crept out of the den, shocked to find that it was still nighttime. She stood alone in the clearing, gazing up at the moon and the stars, which twinkled back at her reassuringly. Pebbletail was up there, somewhere, or so she was told, twinkling down at the kit whom was named after her. Pebblekit was told she was a brave warrior, whose quick thinking and courage saved the lives of many other cats. All Pebblekit had ever wanted was to be a warrior who lived up to Pebbletail's name, and make her spirit proud. She stared at each and every star, wondering which one was Pebbletail, and whether she was watching her right now, giving her her own courage and strength.

She was so deep in thought that Pebbletail didn't notice that another cat had joined her and was watching the stars twinkle in the dark, endless sky. The other cat coughed lightly, and Pebbletail was so shocked that she let out a high-pitched squeak.

'Careful, now.' The pale brown tabby whispered, 'We don't want to wake up everyone else, do we?'

Pebblekit shook her head vigorously in response, and was surprised to find that it was Spiritsong, just who she had wanted to talk to. 'That's too convenient,' She thought to herself, glancing up at the sky once again, 'It was you wasn't it, Pebbletail, you're really looking out for me.'

She turned to face the old she-cat, and paused for a few seconds before beginning. 'I was wondering whether I could ask you something?' She mewed cautiously. Having received no response, which she took as a good sign, she continued. 'You said to Floodkit that it was all his fault. I wanted to know what you meant by that, and if it was perhaps my fault too?'

'You ask too many questions, young one.' Spiritsong replied. Pebblekit was expecting her to continue, but she seemed to have said all she intended to. Pebblekit wanted to reply with 'And you don't give enought answers, old one!' but her mother had told her that elders must be respected, so she restrained herself.

'If it was my fault, I didn't mean to do anything wrong.' She mewed hopefully, wanting a slightly more useful response this time.

'You did nothing wrong,' The elder replied. 'And neither did your brother. Just forget I said anything.' Emberkit frowned, and as she was about to protest, the elder stood up laboriously. 'I think you should be going back to your den, don't you?'

**I hope everyone liked this chapter, and that swapping between four very different characters won't become too confusing. **

**Thanks so much to Silverstrike13580 for being the first person to follow and favourite this story. I've hope you like that the leader of WaterClan is called Silverstar!**

**Thanks to Destinyheart for reviewing again, and I'll try to get a new chapter out tomorrow.**


	4. Chapter 3 Blossomkit

Blossomkit awoke suddenly, a ball of moss bouncing off her nose and rolling into the paws of her sister, Daisykit. She stretched her legs out tiredly, and sat up, glaring at her sisters.

'Sorry, Blossomkit!' They mewed in unison, their eyes sparkling with mischief and excitement, which gave the impression that they were not at all sorry.

Blossomkit merely yawned in response, before padding out of the den to find her mother. She spotted her across the clearing, by the fresh kill pile, and walked over, tripping over a few roots in her tiredness.

'Blossomkit!' Flowerfall exclaimed as she spotted her daughter approaching. 'Finally awake, I see?'

Blossomkit buried her face in her mother's flank, something she had done since the day she was born. 'I wouldn't be if it wasn't for those two annoying furballs.' She mumbled, her tail gesturing towards Daisykit and Hollykit, who immediately stopped whatever game they were playing and bounded over excitedly.

'I hear you two woke Blossomekit up,' Flowerfall admonished them, 'How many times have I told you not to play inside the den when others are sleeping?'

Neither of them responded to their mother; they both just glared at Blossomkit, who tried to appear apologetic. Their mother glanced between them, noticing the small conflict, and jumped up brightly. 'How about you all go and play together now, seeing as you're all awake?'

The three kittens trudged off obediently, but the sound of many cats approaching made them all stop and turn around inquisitively.

Sunstripe raced into the clearing through the thorn tunnel, closely followed by Oakstorm and Dapplewind. 'There's a rogue,' He gasped, 'On our territory. We didn't see it, but we detected it by the lake and the border with WaterClan.'

All the cats nearby immediately began to panic, and a meeting was called by Leafstar, who jumped onto the branch of the oak tree effortlessly.

'There is no need to panic. I shall send out a patrol immediately to see if we can find this rogue and question its motives. If Vinecloud and Elmwhisker could come with me, and could you lead us to where you caught its scent, Sunstripe?' When the cats in question nodded, he leapt off the branch, and flicked his tail for them all to follow.

Their previous argument completely forgotten, the three kits looked at each other with equal fear and excitement.

'A rogue!' Hollykit murmured, 'An evil rogue is living in our territory, and two brave warriors are heading out to find it.'

'Erm,' Daisykit interrupted, 'Didn't four warriors go off to find it?'

Hollykit sighed in exasperation. 'There are only three of us, you slugbrain.'

'Oh, it's a game! Then can I be a warrior?' Daisykit mewed, her tail swishing with excitement.

'Me too!' Blossomkit added quickly, not wanting to be stuck with the bad role as usual.

'Fine.' Hollykit replied haughtily, 'Then I'm the rogue. I'll be hiding somewhere, and as soon as you find me, I'll probably run away and you have to catch me and take me back to your leader.

'Who's the leader going to be?' Blossomkit asked, 'There are only three of us.'

'Flowerfall of course. She's always up for a game.' Hollykit replied, 'Okay, ready? Don't look, I'm just going to hide quickly.'

She sprinted off, deciding that hiding behind the dirt place would quickly become unpleasant, and that if she hid behind the elders' den, their loud complaints about frivolous kits, whatever that meant, would give her away immediately. She decided on hiding behind the Warriors den, as they were all awake by now, and they would all be busy trying to find the real rogue.

Blossomkit and Daisykit rushed from den to den, sniffing furiously, and scanning the camp for a thick light brown tail. Blossomkit caught sight of her sister's curious face peering out from behind the warriors' den and she charged forwards with her fierce battle cry, which was actually more like a high pitched squeal of terror. This noise alerted Daisykit to Hollykit's position, and she charged at her sister from the other side, leaving her no way to escape.

'Don't hurt me, please!' Hollykit wailed, and the two 'warrior's' glared down at the cowering kit.

'What are you doing on noble Leafstar's territory?' Daisykit growled, and Blossomkit was surprised at how scary she actually sounded.

'I came here to escape from my Clan,' Hollykit mumbled nervously, 'They were going to make me kill your leader. I couldn't do that, so I ran away.'

'What if we don't believe you?' Daisykit hissed, drops of her saliva landing on the 'rogue''s face.

'Yeah, you could be here to kill our leader. That why you came!' Blossomkit added, not sounding anywhere near as fierce as her sister had.

'Well you won't be able to do it,' Daisykit continued, her voice dropping to a sinister whisper, 'If we kill you first.' She leapt onto Hollykit's body, and Blossomkit joined in with the attack.

A huge amount of noise was coming from behind the warrior's den, and Petaltail hurried over and hissed at the kits to stop. 'The patrol is back.' She murmured, 'If you want to know what's going on, shut up and follow me.'

**I hope you all liked this chapter, and I'd like to thank Moonlightsong of ThunderClan and Silverstrike13580 for following, and WarriorCat4Life and Silverstrike13580 for favouriting!**

**Actually, I'd like to thank everyone who's read this story. I wanted to have 100 people having read it by Christmas, but seeing as over 40 people have read it by the second day, it seems I'm going to thrash that target, which is absolutely amazing! Thank you all so much.**


	5. Chapter 4 Stormkit

'Icekit?' Stormkit murmured softly, 'Can I play too?'

Sleetkit and Stripykit watched with great interest, and Icekit puffed out his chest importantly. 'Of course not.' He meowed confidently, 'Why would we let you play with us?'

He then turned around, hitting Stormkit in the face with his tail as he did so, and bounded towards his brothers, leaving Stormkit sitting alone. He simply watched them play for a while, before his mind began to wander to thinking about why they seemed to hate him so much. They had called him a traitor in the past, but he'd done nothing wrong, at least he didn't think he had. He was constantly excluded, bullied, teased, but he put up with it, knowing that real warriors were not meant to show any signs of weakness. Determined to not let them get to him, he stood up and wandered over to the nursery.

'Goldenwind,' He mewed, wandering over to his mother's bed of pine needles and moss. 'Can I help you with anything?'

She nuzzled his face affectionately, and glanced at the other kits playing in the snow. 'Don't you want to play with Mistpelt's kits?'

'No, I don't feel like playing,' He lied, and sat down on the cold stone floor.

'You could help Windwhisker clean up the herb store if you really want to be useful,' She suggested, 'But you don't have to, it's quite boring, as I well know from past experiences.'

'That's a great idea!' He mewed happily, knowing that he'd be far enough away from Icekit and Sleetkit and Stripykit, and ran out of the den.

'What a strange little kit,' Goldenwind murmured fondly to herself, as soon as he was out of earshot.

'It's hardly surprising, though,' Mistpelt muttered, and Goldenwind didn't respond.

Stormkit rushed into the medicine cat's den, bumping into Pinepaw as he was leaving.

'Sorry,' He mumbled, helping the apprentice to pick up all of the herbs that he had dropped out of shock.

'Don't worry about it,' He replied good-naturedly, before looking up at Stormkit, and shoving past him angrily. Stormkit watched the young cat stride away, the confusion clear in his eyes. He shook his head, and stuck his head into the den to see if Windwhisker was there.

'Hello there, Stormkit.' She meowed kindly, 'Can I help you with anything?'

'Actually, I was wondering whether I could help you?' He replied, looking pointedly at the herbs and flowers scattered on the floor of the den. 'Help you clear up a bit?' He suggested.

'That would be very helpful, thank you, Stormkit.' She murmured gratefully.

'Are you interested in becoming a medicine cat, Stormkit?' She asked, after working in silence for a while. He appeared shocked, and shook his head firmly.

'No,' He exclaimed, which came out far ruder than he intended, 'No, sorry. I think I'd rather be a warrior.'

'Then why are you in here, and not outside playing with the other kits?' She asked, and for the second time that day, he replied with 'I don't feel like playing.'

She looked at him with concern and he glanced up at her guiltily. 'Is there anything you'd like to talk to me about, Stormkit? Anything at all? In complete confidentiality of course.'

He appeared to consider it for longer than was necessary, and then shook his head forlornly. 'No thank you.' He mumbled, 'There's nothing to talk about anyway.'

He could tell she didn't believe him, but to his relief she seemed to accept his words and continued gathering the herbs into little parcels. From then on, the silence was no longer calm and private, but decidedly uncomfortable.

'You know, Stormkit,' Windwhisker began, unable to bear it any longer, 'Some cats in this Clan want to help you. I can tell that you know that some of them dislike you, but you need to understand that not all of us do. We all know that you are not to blame, but some of us are so furious at the cat who is, we need someone to take it out on.' She paused, trying to gauge his reaction, which seemed to her to be indifference.

'Unfortunately that cat is you.'

He looked up at her, and despite his face showing stoic expression, his eyes were sparkling with pain and confusion. 'Why do they hate me, though? Why not put the blame onto someone else?'

'Because you were the one others found easiest to blame,' She murmured, and seeing his eyes glint angrily, she sighed deeply, and remembered the promise she had made three moons ago.

'Never let him find out.'

**I hope you liked this chapter. Now that you've met all four characters, I would be really interested to know which storyline and character you liked best. **

**Thanks so much for reading, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, or favourited!**

**Please check out my cousin, scribblin101's story. She's also just started like me and would also really appreicate the support. The story is called Ember's Story but she'd like new ideas for the title. Thanks. **


	6. Chapter 5 Emberkit

'Why do you think she hates us, Emberkit?' Ravenkit mumbled, and Emberkit nuzzled his brother's cheek affectionately.

'Well Smokestar said it's all because of her ambition. She felt, she feels, that we're stopping her from being able to become deputy, or even leader, as quickly as she'd like to.' Emberkit recited, his anger still threatening to lash out at any moment.

'But our father's the leader, her mate!' Ravenkit exclaimed, 'For her to become leader, he'd have to either resign, or, or...' He faltered slightly.

'Or die.' Emberkit finished for him, shaking his head.

The two brothers glanced up guiltily from their conversation as the cat they were talking about stormed into the clearing. They shared a look of terror, and standing up, they began to walk away, murmuring nervously.

'Don't walk away from your own mother.' She snarled, and they both stopped in their tracks and reluctantly turned around.

'You lost the right to that title long ago, Darkcloud.' Emberkit hissed, sounding much braver than the felt. Every inch of his consciousness was telling him not to stand up to her, but his anger was becoming uncontrollable.

'How dare you,' She growled, with a hint of sadistic humour. 'You seem incapable of being respectful to your elders. Perhaps you need to be disciplined.'

'Why do you have to be so horrible?' Emberkit muttered, his dark red tail swishing angrily. 'Why are you constantly looking for our faults? Why can't you just be proud of our accomplishments, be proud of who we are?'

With one final glare at the cat he refused to call his mother, he stomped off, Ravenkit following him timidly.

'It's funny you should say that, Emberkit,' She meowed darkly to his retreating back, 'When you haven't even tried to make me proud.'

Emberkit's feeling of exhilaration from finally standing up to her quickly evaporated at that point. It was replaced with bitter disappointment and hatred of himself.

Much later, Emberkit and Ravenkit were lying in the sun on a ledge outside the leader's den. Ravenkit kept opening his mouth, before scrunching up his nose and closing it again.

'Just say it, Ravenkit,' Emberkit mewed in exasperation.

'She is right,' He stuttered, 'In a way, I guess.' Seeing his brother's appalled expression, he sighed and gazed at his paws as if they had suddenly become very interesting.

'What do you mean?' Emberkit asked firmly, 'You cannot be talking about Darkcloud.'

'I'm sorry,' He mumbled hesitantly, 'But she is! We've never tried to make her proud. We've just been too focused on hating her, like she hates us.' He paused, as if debating whether or not to say his next thought. 'Maybe it's up to us to make the first step towards a better relationship.'

'I can see where you're coming from, Ravenkit, I guess.' Responded Emberkit grudgingly. 'But should we have had to try and make her proud? Real mothers,' He spat, 'Are meant to be proud of you no matter what you do.'

'I guess so...' Ravenkit mewed, excitedly, 'But don't you think we should try anyway? Do something so great, that she'd have to be proud of us? She'd have no choice!'

As appealing as that sounded, Emberkit was reluctant to do anything to impress Darkcloud. If he was going to do anything great, it would be for their father; making him proud would be much easier and more satisfying, he decided.

'Fine, you can do it for Darkcloud, but I'm doing it for Smokestar,' He announced, and Ravenkit purred happily, 'So what's your plan?'

Ravenkit blinked, shocked. 'I haven't thought of one yet! Was I supposed to?'

'Yeah, probably. But it's okay,' Emberkit mewed kindly, 'We can do it together.'

After Emberkit suggested many ridiculous ideas, Ravenkit, who had been sitting deep in thought, not listening to a single one of his brother's ideas, suddenly jumped up.

'I've got it, Emberkit!' He muttered conspiratorially.

His brother gave him a sceptical glance. 'Really? Can it really be better than my idea to invade WaterClan? They're so weak, it probably wouldn't be very hard at all.'

'I think it is, yeah.' Ravenkit purred quietly, 'We should go and catch an eagle.'

'But, but,' Emberkit stuttered, 'That's nowhere nearly as impressive as invading WaterClan. Anyone can catch an eagle! See, Shardpelt caught one today!' He mewed frantically, his tail gesturing towards the fresh kill pile. 'If we're really trying to impress her, invading is the only option.'

Ravenkit looked at his brother, somewhat concerned. 'But we'd be the first kits ever to catch an eagle, probably. For a warrior, I know it's not a big deal, but for a kit, it's huge!'

Emberkit reluctantly agreed, and together they thought up a plan, which would finally make Darkcloud proud of them. Little did they know, that she would only ever be proud of one of them, and she would despise the other even more than she did now.

**I hope you liked this chapter, and that you're pleased to be going back to a character you already know instead of switChing to a new one again! I can't believe over 60 people have read this now, I'm so thankful to each and every one of you (especially the ones who review)!**


	7. Chapter 6 Pebblekit

Pebblekit awoke the next morning feeling more confused than ever. She had crept back into the den after the encounter with Spiritsong, which instead of satisfying her curiosity, gave her more questions which she needed answers for.

She wandered out of the den, with her mother close behind, and let out a huge yawn.

'Couldn't you sleep, Pebblekit?' Clovernose meowed jokingly, 'Or were you out on a private little quest?'

Pebblekit purred sleepily in response, but her mind was panicking as her mother was so close to the truth. She gave Spiritsong, who was sunbathing nearby, a pleading glance, and received a barely noticeable nod in return.

Not feeling like eating quite yet, Pebblekit padded over to where Bubblepelt and her two kits were chatting happily. She sat slightly further away from them, not so close to intrude, but close enough to listen.

'Bubblepelt?' Riverkit mewed, 'Why did you call me Riverkit?'

The white she-cat considered it for a few moments. 'Well, ever since I was an apprentice, my favourite place in our territory has been the river. I always used to creep out of camp at nights,' She lowered her voice slightly, and her kits' eyes widened in respect, 'And just sit by the river, and watch it flow.'

'So that's what you called me Flowkit?' The white Tom asked, and Bubblepelt purred, nodding.

'Yes, your names always remind me of those days, when I had nothing to worry about, nothing to be afraid of.' She murmured wistfully, and added almost to herself, 'But ever since my own mother died by the river, I haven't gone back.' She then looked up, making eye contact with Pebblekit, who got up hurriedly and bounded over to the fresh kill pile.

After eating a fish which she thought may have been trout, feeling full and content, she approached her mother, and flopped down next to her.

'Why did you call me Pebblekit?' She asked, wanting an explanation as thoughtful as Bubblepelt had given her kits.

'You know this, Pebblekit. You were named after Pebbletail.' Her mother replied, and began licking the top of her head affectionately.

'But why did you name me after Pebbletail? Why not after a different warrior, who was just as brave and loyal?' Pebblekit asked insistently, and Clovernose immediately stopped.

'Well, I decided that Pebbletail needed to be honoured.' Her mother said, choosing her words carefully.

Pebblekit, sensing that she should ask no more question on that topic, sighed and rested her head on her paws. 'But,' She exclaimed suddenly, 'Why did you call Floodkit Floodkit? You can't want to honour a flood.'

'No, not to honour it.' Her mother replied, 'To remember it, I suppose.'

Pebblekit nodded slowly, trying to understand what her mother had just said. A million questions came into her head, and she shook her hand lightly. She had never been told there had been a flood. Why would her mother want to remember it?

Clovernose sighed, and stood up slowly, and began to walk away.

'Where are you going?' Pebblekit mewed desperately.

'I'm just going out for a little while, Pebblekit,' She replied, her eyes clouding over with an emotion Pebblekit couldn't recognise. 'I just need to be alone.'

**Thanks for reading. The chapters will sadly start to become less frequent now, as the only reason I've been able to get one out every day is because it's half term at the moment. I'll still try to get two out a week, but we'll see how that goes. **


	8. Chapter 7 Blossomkit

The three kits watched the leader return in awe, glancing worriedly at each other when they saw the concerned look on his face. Judging by the yowls of terror coming from all across the clearing, many others had too.

Leafstar merely lifted up her tail, and the crowd went silent. Leaping up onto the large branch, she began. 'There is no need to panic. The rogue was spotted near the border with WaterClan again, meaning it has not moved. On closer inspection, we found out that the rogue is a she-cat, and is struggling to stay alive. Sunstripe and I decided that if she is still there tomorrow, we shall bring her to our camp for shelter.'

This was met with a huge growl of protest from Vinecloud, was stood up to face his leader angrily. 'With all due respect, Leafstar, why should we be giving a dying rogue shelter?'

Leafstar nodded, as though she anticipated the question, before her eyes glinted with excitement. 'Not just for shelter, Vinecloud. Think about it. Aren't you at least a little curious where she came from?' She paused, and glanced at Sunstripe, 'I've changed my mind, Sunstripe. She needs to be questioned now. Come with me.'

After the two cats sprinted out of the camp, Hollykit turned to her sisters with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Blossomkit and Daisy glanced at each other warily, causing Hollykit to sigh in exasperation.

'Come on you boring furballs!' She whispered, 'This is a great opportunity for loads of fun!'

'Or loads of trouble,' Daisykit muttered in response.

'We won't get in any trouble, I promise. All we're going to do is when the rogue is brought to our camp is volunteer to clean her den for her.' After hearing the growls of disgust, she shook her head vehemently. 'We don't have to clean it well! After all, she's just a prisoner. And while we're cleaning it, we can talk to her and find out where she's come and what she's seen.'

'But why?' Blossomkit mewed, struggling to see the point in her sister's plan.

'Because,' Hollykit replied bossily, 'It's getting really boring at the moment. This is the most exciting thing that's happened in moons!'

Blossomkit looked around worriedly. She did have to agree that not much had been happening in EarthClan lately. She sighed, and turned back to face her sisters.

'I'll think about it.'

The rest of the day passed incredibly slowly for Blossomkit, convincing her to go along with her sister's plan. Just as she was about to head back to her den, not looking forward at all to the next day, Hollykit pounced on her from behind.

Turning around, Blossomkit hissed at her. 'Hey!' She exclaimed, 'What was that for?'

Hollykit didn't respond, she just walked away, clearly expecting Blossomkit to follow her. Sighing, Blossomkit gave in, and trotted obediently behind her. Hollykit stopped suddenly, and faced her, and Blossomkit peered around her sister's body, and saw Leafstar in a heated conversation with Sunstripe.

'Where's the rogue?' She hissed, glancing around the camp for a cat she didn't recognise.

'In Rosetail's den.' Hollykit replied, 'Apparently she's really ill. Daisykit saw her earlier, and she said that she looks really thin and just... Sad.'

With nothing left to say, they sat next to each other in slightly uncomfortable silence, which was broken abruptly when Daisykit pelted out of the medicine den.

'Did you find out anything?' Hollykit mewed excitedly, eager for new information.

'Yes,' Daisykit managed to say, before gasping for breath, 'She said Fernpaw reminded her of something she'd left behind.'

**I am so sorry for the huge delay in getting out this chapter. I've had a very busy week, and didn't realise how much of my time would be taken up by homework. I'll really try to get more on top of things, and I'll hopefully be able to get out two chapters by next Sunday. Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 8 Stormkit

Stormkit awoke incredibly early due to the sound of Sharpstar yelling as he led the Dawn patrol out of the camp. Stretching his legs out, he yawned widely, scrunching his bright blue eyes shut. When he had tried to get back to sleep for long enough, he gave up and padded quietly out of the den, shivering slightly as he came into contact with the cold outside air.

Snow had built up on the rocks and tall fir trees, and on the ground, making it almost reach up to Stormkit's chin, so he was making very little progress in getting to the large cave, inside which it was dry and most importantly, warm. Once he was about halfway, his paws began to throb with cold, and it took all of his self control not to wail with pain. Despite trying to be silent, he still let out a slight squeak and shook all his paws vigorously in an attempt to get his blood flowing through them again.

He looked between the cave and the de rapidly, trying to work out which was closer. He then gazed longingly at the den, wondering why he had felt the need to leave its warmth in the first place. Just as he was about to continue what he started, 'because real Warriors don't give up', he told himself, he caught the sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. CrouchIng down, and trying to ignore the uncomfortable sensation of snow on the back of his neck, he looked back at where he had seen movement.

It took him a long time, seeing that the fur was white, and thus was difficult to notice against the white snow, but when he caught sight of those dark brown eyes, he cursed under his breath. He began to shiver once again, this time not just because of the cold, and glanced up again, only to see Icekit now walking towards him, with a malicious glint in his eyes.

'Please don't see me,' He muttered under his breath, crouching even lower despite the protests his paws were giving him, 'Please turn around, please don't see me.'

Unable to look up, he buried his face in the snow, which muffled his terrified scream as he heard Icekit speak.

'I know you're there, Stormkit,' He meowed quietly, and far too cheerfully, 'I can see you.'

Admitting defeat, Stormkit lifted his head and stood up, a slight hint of defiance showing in his eyes, though it was mainly concealed by abject terror. He glanced back at the den, even more longingly than before, as Goldenwind would be inside, and would be able to protect him from whatever was about to happen. He gulped, and glanced back towards Icekit, who was still strolling towards him confidently. Stormkit began to wonder how he appeared so unfazed by the cold snow, before shaking his head, reminding himself to try to stay more focused on the task at hand.

Icekit continued to walk forwards, smirking slightly at how noticeably terrified Stormkit had become, alternating between staring wide eyed at the den and at him. When he was a tail-length away from Stormkit's quivering body he cocked his head to one side, with the intention of sitting there for long enough to make Stormkit uncomfortable. Realising that their Clanmates would wake up soon, and deciding Stormkit was uncomfortable enough, he suddenly leapt forwards, pushing Stormkit sideways as he did so. Holding the small body under the snow with his front paws, he cleared his throat. 'That's what you get for being a traitor.'

He then released him from his strong grip, and bounded back to the den, not wanting to be found outside before the patrol returned. Standing in the entrance to the den, he glanced back, and for the first time, he felt a pang of shame.

**I understand that my posts are pretty infrequent, but I'm really busy at the moment, seeing that my GCSE mocks are coming up, so I think the most I'll be able to post will be one every weekend. Please review if you can, as who knows, I might get the next chapter out faster! **

**Thanks for reading! **


	10. Chapter 9 Emberkit

Early the next morning, Emberkit awoke to a sharp prodding in his flank, and he mumbled sleepily to himself. Blinking heavily, he yawned, and peered at the darkness around him.

'Too early.' He grumbled, and pulled his paws over his eyes, settling back into his den contentedly.

'Emberkit!' He heard a quiet hiss, 'Get up right now! We have to go, remember?'

Immediately, his tiredness completely forgotten, he leapt up and was out of the shall cave in a few heartbeats. The darkness no longer seemed like an enemy, but rather like an ally, aiding them in their secret mission to gain approval. He turned round to face his brother, knowing that the excited yet slightly wary glint in his eyes was reflected in his own.

'What are we waiting for?' he hissed, glancing up at the sky, 'It'll be light soon.'

His brother shook his head rapidly, clearing his thoughts, and nodded once firmly. 'Yes, you're right.' He mewed, 'We've got to go.'

Emberkit scrambled eagerly down the pile of rocks, letting out a small uncontrollable squeal of excitement. This earned him a stern glance from his brother, an exact replica of their father's, causing Emberkit to snort in amusement.

'Be quiet, Emberkit!' Ravenkit whispered, 'This is really serious.'

'Yeah, yeah, I know.' He replied, winking cheekily, 'Come on then, let's go!'

They both ran to the entrance of the camp, making as little noise as possible, which was still quite a lot. Emberkit was leading the way rather confidently, but seeing as neither of them, had ever left the camp before, Ravenkit realised that his confidence was merely a facade. Perhaps it always was, he wondered, but deciding that more important things were going on he chose to ignore it.

'Where are we going, Emberkit?' He whispered, as fear began to creep over him, removing all previous sense of excitement.

'To the mountains, silly.' Emberkit replied, his voice faltering slightly as he looked at the tall trees and dark shadows surrounding them. In truth, he had no idea. He shivered slightly, hearing a call of an owl echoing from the distance. He gritted his teeth, determined to show no weakness. 'To the mountains.'

Purposefully, he strode forwards, naively believing that if he walked for long enough he'd find what he was looking for. He was so caught up in his almost mechanical strides that when Ravenkit called out his name urgently, he had to process the sound for much longer than should have been necessary before stopping.

'Look, Emberkit.' He exclaimed, gesturing with his tail, 'Mountains.'

'What?' Emberkit responded, sounding surprised despite himself. 'Yes, of course, mountains. Didn't I say I knew where we were going?'

Ravenkit nodded mutely, before glancing up at the jagged precipice far above them. Receiving a encouraging nod from his brother he scrambled awkwardly up the rock face, and was left dangling off a tree root half way up. His claws unsheathed, and digging them into the root, he eventually managed to pull himself up. He peered down at his brother, mewed a few words of encouragement, and turned to face the huge sheets of rock behind him.

Mountains, he thought, so this is what they look like. He'd seen mountains from the camp, of course, but they were always so far away. He'd never even imagined they could be this big! He had to crane his neck as far as it could go before he could even glimpse the top. Suddenly their plan seemed completely undoable.

'Er, Emberkit?' He mewed quietly, 'We might need to rethink our plan slightly.'

'One second, Ravenkit.' His brother shot back, 'I'm not in any danger or anything!'

Ravenkit peered over the edge, saw his brother perched on a small slab of rock balanced precariously on the ledge below him. He immediately felt a surge of guilt, and thrust one of his weedy paws towards his brother.

'It's okay,' He muttered, 'I'm fine. It probably wouldn't be much help anyway.'

Ravenkit drew back his paw as if burnt, yet continued to watch his brother struggle as he made his way up the jagged cliff face. Emberkit sighed, and began to tiptoe along the slab, careful to keep his body weight balanced so as not to cause it, and him, to fall back down to the ground. Eventually, he had to admit to both his brother and himself that he was too... weak? Scared? Worthless?

'I thought you said you didn't need my help.' Ravenkit murmured, trying to keep his facial expression calculatedly blank.

'Come on, don't be like that!' Emberkit scowled, 'You need me up there anyway.'

'Don't you think I'm capable of doing it alone?' Ravenkit hissed.

'No! Well yes, of course you're capable, that's not what I meant. How will you explain to the a Clan that I'm just balancing on this random rock somewhere?' He replied, 'Scratch that, how will you get back to the Clan at all?' He trailed off towards the end, the realisation that he had no idea where they were finally settling in.

Ravenkit blinked twice, and again thrust his paw towards his brother, slightly more forcefully this time. Emberkit padded forwards slowly, trying not to pay any attention to the gradual rocking motion of the rock, and when he was close enough, grabbed his brother's paw and clung on for dear life.

He let go.

He watched him fall.

He began to whimper.

'Ravenkit?'


	11. Chapter 10 Pebblekit

Pebblekit was determined to find out more about the flood her mother wished to remember. It must have been before she was born, as she had never heard about it. She realised that Spiritsong might have all the answers she was looking for, as Spiritsong was definitely older than her mother, and did seem to know the majority of what was going on.

Her mother had been quite distant lately, ever since she found out about the flood, Pebblekit realised suddenly. Her mother had said she wanted to remember it, and that was a slightly peculiar thing to say. Why would you want to remember a flood, they weren't exactly useful or anything. Pebblekit continued to mull this over in her mind, as she had been doing for the past few days, still coming to no clear or feasible conclusion.

Floodkit hadn't been much help, still obediently accepting everything their mother said as true, while Pebblekit could easily see that everything she said was a blatant lie. Pebblekit sighed heavily, her young mind unable to process everything which was going on. Wetwhisker, who had been relaxing contentedly next to her, turned to her with a acknowledging flick of his ears.

'Why such a big sigh?' He asked, tilting his head to one side, 'Is your brother annoying you?'

Pebblekit blinked slowly, pretty irritated that he assumed that just because she was a kit hat she had nothing to be frustrated about except silly little sibling rivalries. 'Something like that,' She muttered, glaring down at her paws. Wetwhisker nodded slowly, and stood up while glancing at her suspiciously.

'Okay, I suppose.' He meowed with slight bitterness, 'I was trying to be nice, StarClan knows why.'

'Wait, Wetwhisker!' Pebblekit exclaimed suddenly, 'Have you perhaps, by any chance, just maybe heard of a flood?'

'A... A flood?' He stuttered slowly, looking cautiously around him, 'Why do you ask?'

'No reason,' She replied innocently, 'It might have been a very long time ago, I don't really know much about it.'

'No, you don't.' He hissed, beginning to walk away, 'You know nothing about it.'

Pebblekit merely watched him storm away, more confused than ever. Every time she tried to get more information everything just seemed to go wrong and she ended up with more that she didn't know!

She wandered unhappily towards the fresh kill pile, and picked out a small water vole, and began nibbling on it, her mind completely elsewhere. All she knew was that there had been a flood at some point, and that she was named after a warrior named Pebbletail who deserved to be honoured, and some of their Clanmates blamed her and Floodkit for something neither of them could remember.

She suddenly realised something. How had she been so, so stupid? All three of the things that she knew were related, she just didn't know how they fit together.

She caught sight of Clovernose talking to Silverstar by the camp entrance, and trotted over, careful to not interrupt the conversation. She sat down a few tail lengths away, waiting obediently for her mother to finish. They were speaking in hushed tones, glancing warily around ever few moments, looking terribly suspicious. Silverstar seemingly noticed Pebblekit for the first time, and nudged Clovernose with his shoulder, whispering something in her ear as he did so.

'Pebblekit,' She exclaimed, slightly too cheerfully, 'What's the matter?'

'Nothing's the matter,' She mewed cautiously, 'I just wanted to ask you something. About Pebbletail.'

Her mother exchanged another furtive glance with Silverstar, who nodded before turning around and padding slowly away.

'Pebblekit!' Her mother scolded, 'You should know better! You do not interrupt any conversations between adults, especially if the leader is involved!'

Pebblekit bowed her head, staring forlornly at her pale grey paws. 'I'm sorry,' She mumbled, 'I just suddenly realised something, and needed to ask you a quick question.'

'There is nothing you need to know about Pebbletail, it doesn't concern you.' Clovernose replied, and upon seeing her daughter about to interrupt, she continued rapidly, 'Stop meddling in things you don't need to be worrying about. It will not end well, you'll begin finding out things you don't want to hear.'

Pebblekit realised she'd get no answers from her mother, so nodded politely, and decided to go and find Spiritsong.

She dashed across the camp towards the elder's den, and almost bumped into Sandstream, the medicine cat.

'Hello Sandstream!' She exclaimed happily, not noticing the look of helplessness in the pale yellow she-cat's eyes.

'You can't go inside, Pebblekit, I'm afraid.' She meowed quietly.

'Why not?' Pebblekit asked, 'I'll only be one second!'

Sandstream shook her head, closing her eyes for a few seconds. 'Spiritsong's dying.'

**Thank you so much for reading! I somehow managed to get two chapters out this week, despite having six tests... **

**Special thanks to 101dragon for favouriting, and anyone else who has favourited, reviewed, or followed!**


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